


the undoing

by bereft_of_frogs



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Magical Accidents, Magical Exhaustion, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Seizures, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 04:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18684238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bereft_of_frogs/pseuds/bereft_of_frogs
Summary: Team Revengers and the rest of the Asgardian refugees traveling the cosmos are unexpectedly attacked by a sorcerer who believes them to be carrying items of great value.Loki has just enough power to defeat the sorcerer.Just.





	the undoing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GriffinHeart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GriffinHeart/gifts).



“ _Shit_ , Loki, do something!” The Valkyrie cries, ramming her sword through another snarling hound. The sorcerer who had drawn all the creatures of this forest planet under his thrall cackles from his floating perch, surrounded by a conjured forcefield.

The sorcerer had ambushed them. Alone, but clearly powerful. Loki had barely gotten off an initial attack before the creatures of the forest had come for them, all swarming and snarling towards the ship. Loki threw up a barrier, shimmering green seidr that held the creatures away from the vulnerable ship and their largely civilian populace.

“Do you want me to do something, or do you want me to hold these beasts back from invading the ship?” He shouts back. Loki stands, back to the sorcerer, and holds the forcefield.

“Dammit, we’re never going to beat them if we can’t break the forcefield and kill the damned mage!” A creature with four long claws lunges for Loki, but the Valkyrie takes it out.

“You cannot fight the whole forest! And when you slip, the treasures of Asgard will be mine!” The sorcerer cackles as he sends another wave of beasts after them.

Lightning flashes and Thor appears next to them, covered in sprayed blood. “Why do people keep thinking we somehow made it off the burning shell of Asgard with half the treasures in the damned vault?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure a certain _someone_ probably grabbed a few more things than he’s letting on!”

“Will you two _shut up_ and fight!” Loki has to close his eyes now, to concentrate on the forcefield as the beasts throw themselves at the barrier, straining to reach the ship.

“Loki, we need to kill the sorcerer!” Thor shouts at him. “I’ve thrown everything I have at him, nothing. We need to break the forcefield and the spell - can you undo it?”

Loki does a quick calculation in his head, rifling through spells of undoing. Then he nods. “Beat back the creatures,” He says. “I will take care of the sorcerer.” Thor nods tightly and takes off, swirling lightning trailing him.

Loki takes a deep breath, hearing the Valkyrie slaying the monsters behind him. _This is going to hurt_ , he thinks to himself. He steels himself and begins the spell.

With one hand still holding the forcefield steady to protect the ship, he opens his eyes and turns, stretching out his hand towards the cackling sorcerer. And he smiles.

Chanting in an ancient language of magic, he finds the woven strains of the other mage’s workings. The pattern is solid and tightly wound, but he twists his own magic through the spells, focusing on the forcefield surrounding him and the thrall that controls the creatures. It fights him, hard. He draws on the deepest stores of power wrapped around the core of his being, to hold his own forcefield together and unravel the spells.

“What are you doing? How dare - _no!_ ”

But Loki just smiles. It is too late for the sorcerer’s spells, he has done too thorough a job dispatching them. (He ignores the voice in his head that whispers, _but it also might be too late for you._ ) Dimly, he’s aware of something hot dripping down his face, down the sides of his neck. He gasps for air and in a concussive blow, obliterates the magic.

The sorcerer’s protective bubble dissolves in an instant and he falls, cursing all the way down. The sounds of struggle diminish as the creatures, free from their enchantment, lose the will to fight. Loki’s forcefield dissolves as well and the magic drains back into him, giving him just enough power to block the curse the sorcerer throws at him and deflect it back on its caster. The sorcerer falls dead in an instant.

Loki stands, trying and failing to catch his breath, as the Valkyrie kills the last of the more aggressive creatures.

“Nicely done, highness, see that was what I was talking-” Her face falls when she turns to face him. “Loki?”

“It’s done,” He says and his normally quick tongue is clumsy. “Done.”

“Shit, _Thor!_ ”

Loki wonders why she’s calling for Thor. His thoughts slip and slide in his head and he cannot grasp them long enough to remember why he feels so deeply exhausted. His knees give way, but strong arms catch him and ease him down before he can fall.

“Loki, stay awake!” Thor’s face hovers above him.

“Why?” He feels thoroughly like going to sleep. Sleep sounds _wonderful_.

“It’s okay, you’re going to be okay.”

Loki just blinks up at Thor’s worried face. “Of course.” Thor’s hand taps at his cheek.

“Come on, Loki, just stay-”

Sound goes first. Then his sight at the edges. His world is narrowed to two pinpoints of light and a moment later all is blackness.

 

When Thor first hears the Valkyrie’s stressed call, he knows something has gone terribly wrong. In the wake of lightning, he flies to where they had been making the final stand, in time to catch Loki under the arms as he collapses. Blood is flowing from his nose and trickling from his ears, down too pale skin. Loki shakes like a leaf as Thor lays him down, then goes completely, unnervingly still. His eyes start to drift closed.

“Loki, stay awake!” Panic starts, a fluttering in his heart. He doesn’t know how to deal with this, he can’t _remember_ how to deal with this.

“Why?” Loki slurs, fading rapidly. There’s something like muddled confusion in his little brother’s eyes as he blinks tiredly up at him.

Thor’s face twists. “It’s okay, you’re going to be okay.”

“Of course.” Loki’s breath slows as he drifts asleep.

“Come on, Loki, just stay with me-” But he’s already gone. “ _Dammit!_ ”

“Thor, what-”

“He must have used up his power counteracting the sorcerer’s spell.”

“That’s bad, right?” She asks. “I never spent much time around mages…but that’s bad, right? What do we do?”

“I can’t remember, _damn_ , I can’t _remember_.” Thor checks his pulse. It lumbers slowly along, like his breath. “We have to get him back on board the ship.” The Valkyrie helps him gather Loki carefully in his arms, making sure his head drops carefully onto Thor’s shoulder. They carry him through the halls of the ship to the infirmary, and lay him down on the bed.

“Go reassure the people,” Thor says. “Try to hail Heimdall again. He’ll know what to do about this.”

“You got it, majesty. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

When they are alone, Thor gently removes Loki’s boots and leathers, leaving only the cloth under-layer. He hooks Loki up to a heart monitor, glaring at the fluttering and unsteady beat. He cleans the streaked blood off Loki’s face and neck with a soft flannel, soaked in warm water.

“You fool,” He mutters as he washes the blood away. “Why didn’t you _think?_ ” Loki doesn’t respond, still out cold. Thor sighs and draws a blanket over him.

“How’s he doing?” The Valkyrie asks when she returns.

“Same, no change. I think that’s a good thing.”

“And you really can’t remember how to deal with this?”

Thor runs a hand through his hair. “It has been a century - more perhaps, since I have seen him made this ill by an expenditure of magic. And I was never alone to deal with this before.” Suddenly the heart monitor beeps and Loki is arching off the bed.

“Thor-”

“It’s a seizure, it’s,” Thor scrubs a hand over his face, then uses it to cradle Loki’s head. “It’s normal, it’s about how the magic is woven into the brain. The lack of it disrupts electrical activity, I think. I don’t know for sure, but I remember this.”

“And what do we do to stop it?”

“Just wait.” He comes out of it quickly enough, falling limp on the bed and breathing heavily. He does not regain consciousness, but Thor thinks that is normal enough as well.

“Okay, Thor, I know I’m not the most experienced with mages, but are you sure-”

“I know. I think…I think it looks scarier than it is.” _He hopes_. Thor takes a deep breath, looking down at his little brother, limp on the bed. He replays the moment over in his mind, thinking through his own words. He should have seen sooner the condition Loki’s magic was in. He thinks back to all the little tasks he had been doing on the ship - quick expenditures of seidr that were nothing under normal circumstances, but built up and on top of reduced food rations and little sleep…

“Oh, brother,” Thor says quietly. “I am sorry.”

Over the next few hours, Loki remains entirely dead to the world. His heartbeat remains slow and weak, and he has two more seizures. Thor’s just starting to get a bit frantic when Heimdall finally returns and is the voice of reason.

“Yes, this is normal, though we will have to monitor his condition. Recovery will depend on how much _beyond_ his limits he went. If he used up his life force, this may require additional assistance. Unfortunately, Loki’s the best one to tell us how much power he used and what the best treatment is, so I can only guess.”

“He had enough left after breaking the sorcerer’s spells to curse him?” The Valkyrie says. “And he was conscious for a minute after that. Good sign or no?”

“Good sign,” Heimdall reassures. Thor feels himself relax a bit. He keeps one hand on Loki’s head “I will have us set course that will allow for a quick detour to a civilized planet if necessary. For now, keep watch and keep him comfortable.”

“Thank you, Heimdall,” Thor says, weak with relief. Things quiet for a while after that.

“You didn’t spend much time around mages?” Thor asks, just to break the eerie silence.

“There weren’t any among the Valkyries, you know what Asgard was like. And on Sakaar…well. Let’s just say mages rarely lasted long on Sakaar.”

Thor frowns. “What did they-”

Loki moans, head tossing. His face screws up, back arching a little off the bed.

“Loki?” Thor says softly. “Are you awake?” He touches Loki’s cheek, feeling heat radiating off him. Loki takes a shuddering breath and turns towards Thor. “Brother? Can you hear me?”

“I…can…hear…” He moans.

“Loki, what do we do to help you? You have to tell me what to do.”

“You don’t…know?”

“Loki.”

Loki manages to blink his eyes open. They’re clouded and it takes a moment for him to focus on Thor’s face. “What?”

“You’ve drained your seidr. How do we treat it?”

“Wait.”

“That’s it?”

Loki nods, eyes squeezing shut. “Don’t…let me…die...I suppose. And…pain relief would…not be…unwelcome.” A shudder passes through him, and he squeezes the blanket.

“Alright.” Thor slips his hand into Loki’s and lets him squeeze hard as he rides out the pain. “Alright, you’ll be fine soon.”

“I’ll find a sedative,” Valkyrie says softly. “I think there’s one that won’t drop his heart rate.” She finds one in a drawer and they give him a small dose, just enough so that he drops back off to sleep. They pass the night like that, Thor letting Loki squeeze his hand through periodic spasms of pain, giving him low doses of sedative. Once they give him more but it makes his heart rate drop dangerously low, so they must allow him to mostly ride out the aches and fever. He sometimes tosses in the grip of nightmares and there is nothing Thor can do to comfort him except sit, and watch, and wait for his magic to weave itself back together.

 

A deep ache is the only sensation that Loki knows for a long time. It settles into his bones making him feel bruised and shattered from head to toe. Slowly, he swims to consciousness and becomes aware of a soft bed beneath him, and a hand grasping his.

He blinks open his eyes and looks to the side. Thor is sitting in a chair, asleep, by his bedside. The Valkyrie is lying on the counter, snoring softly. He searches his memory and finds that his last memory is of being attacked by beasts in a forest-

The ache is a familiar one though, and he can guess what followed. He tests his magic and finds the well still bone dry. Even the attempt to feel it sends an agonizing shock of pain through oversensitive nerves and he cannot help the thin whine that escapes his throat. In the momentary spasm, he’s squeezed Thor’s hand, rousing his brother from his nap.

“Shhh,” Thor whispers, absentmindedly. “You’re alright.” Almost uncaringly or perhaps…bored? Loki raises an eyebrow and blinks.

“ _Ahem_.” That gets Thor’s attention. His brother turns to him, opening his one eye in surprise.

“Loki? Are you awake?”

“Do I not appear awake?” His voice comes out a croak. “Sorry to have disturbed you.”

Thor gives him a look. “You have been in and out of consciousness for three days, brother, scarcely coherent. Forgive me for getting a bit…repetitive with my attempts to soothe.” He half smiles at Loki. “How do you feel?”

“Absolutely wretched.”

“Spells of undoing are not ones usually undertaken alone, especially when already distracted and already tired. That was foolish.”

“I couldn’t think of anything else at the moment. I knew I would survive.” Loki feels his eyes start to drift shut again. “Well. Probably. I thought I would probably survive.”

Thor squeezes his hand. “Go back to sleep, brother. We’ll talk about this more later.”

“Hm.” The ache is fading. It’s just exhaustion now and Loki happily drifts off to sleep. Just before he’s entirely out, he feels a slight stirring of magic in his core, and a spark traveling across his fingers where they are wrapped around Thor’s palm.

**Author's Note:**

> There we go, some relatively plotless whumpy goodness for my first hurt/comfort exchange! (Stress: this is my first time participating in an exchange of any kind so any mistakes/weird things are on me. Sorry!) 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading! <3


End file.
